Waistband



O. BROOKS Dec. 1, 1931.

WAISTBAND Filed Aug. 7. 1929 INVENTOR Ulz've Brooks BY my 4M ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 1,1931.

OLIVE Baooxs, oruEwYoRx, N. Y;

" wAIs'r'BANnI Application filed August 7, 19 2af s eria no. 384,040;

This invention relates to waistbands such as used around the bottoms of womens blouses and the tops ofpaj amas, and womens underwear such for example as step-ins,

I} pants, bloomers, etc.

At present the waistbands used in such garments consist of a conti'nuous circular strip of rubber elastic fabric sewedtogether at its ends and enclosed within a casing or hem around the edge of the garment. The elastic materialnsed, particularly in the mediumpriced and cheaper grades of garv ments, is too tight to be worn comfortably when new,'or bec'omessoafter the first or second washing because of shrinkage in the elastic. The wearer must either'endu're'the discomfort, lengthen the waistband by piecing, or insert an entirely new waistband.

Moreover, rubber elastic fabric of any kind, and particularly in the cheaper grades, loses its strength long before the rest ofthe garment is wornout,- so that even when the original waistband isof good quality elastic, the wearer may be forced toginsert' at least one, or more often two or three new waistbands during the life of the garment. This is a petty sewing task'toosmall'to take to the dressmaker, but-it has to be done so frequently that it is a thoroughgoing nuisance. When the elastic first begins to lose its strength, the waistband may be shortened by means of a tuclnfastening it either by sewing or by the use of a safety pin, or it'may simplybe cut and tied together in-alknot, or aloopformed and knotted, without-cut- "ting. But these are-all makeshiftaand with the light clothing which women usually wear, suck tucks, loops-orknots are very apt to show, through the clothing- The present invention aims to do away .'with these discomforts and to provide a waistbandwhich is readilyreplaceablein .the Y garment in a moments time.

,1 p The object of theinvention. also is toprovide an elastic waistband which can be quickly/inserted in the casingof a garment and which is capable of adjustment to the correct size both before and after insertion. The invention-will be understood 'by rewaistband,

permanently fixed to the end by stitching 15.

ferring to the accompanying drawings in whic u I 1 r Fig. 1 is a perspectiveview of my improved Figs. 2 and a'reslightly enlarged views of the clasp, Fig. 2 being a sectiontaken on line 2-2 of Fig. 3 and Fig. 3 being a section taken on line 33 of Fig. 2, v

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the.

manner of opening the clasp and joining it with the opposite end of the waistband,

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the upper I portion of apair of'bloomers' or pants with the improved waistband inserted therein,

' Fig.1; is asection'al view illustrating the use of theelongated clasp as a bodkin.

9 Referring now to 'these drawings, the waistband comprises a strip 10'prefe'rably of elastic material, and usually of elastic webbing inf-which the elastic properties are impartedthereto by weaving cords of india rubber into the'webbing. The strip is usually about one quarter of, an inch in wldth and has at one end an elongated clasp 11, and at the other end a loop 12 is formed in the strip'for engagement with the clasp, the loop'preferably being adjustable in length so asto vary the girthof the waistband.

The clasp 11 consists of an oblong eyeof thiir'stifi material, no wider thanthe strip than necessary'for the requisite strength and stiffness, and of sufficient length to take the place of a 'bodkin or'shirring needlein run- 'ning the waistba'ndthrough the casing of the garment to which it is to "be applied. The clasp preferably has two substantially'pa'rallel arms 13 extending in the direction of the waistband at each'side of the strip 10and joinedtogether at the rear end'ofthe clasp by a crossbar 14, by means of which, the clasp is of the waistband The outer ends of the side arms 13 are formed with overlapping fingers 16'which .lie crosswiseof the clasp about parallel to the rear bar 14. The fingers 16 in the normal position of the clasp overlie one anotherv in close contact but they may be separated laterally. by the fingers, as illustrated in- Fig. 4, so that g fplaeing of anything at the waistline which greater than the j ointsin the waistbands now in-oommon use made by theoverlapping and strength, stiffness, and yielding or resilient properties. The clasp is preferably made in thin fiat form as shown more particularly in .Figs..2,;3 and 4 since-in thisway the thick:

ness of the clasp is kept to a minimum, and the fingers 1i6a re; given maximum strength to 'resist bending. It is important to avoidthe will give the appearance of increasing the size of the waist,;or which will-indicate its presence through the puter' clothing,-and it will be seen by referring to Fig. 3 that when *the clasp ismade of thin ifiat material the thickness oflthe-wa'istband is not appreciably sewing together of the ends of theba-nd.

Thus at the left of Fig. 3 it will be seen that the maximum thickness :is caused by the three thicknesses of the strip at. the stitching15,

while at-the rightft-he maximumthickness is' Fcaused by-two thicknesses of the strip 10 and the two overlapping fingers 16; The :side

.arms -13of the clasp and the Jfingers 16 are made flat and sufiiciently thin'so that the total 7 thickness of the "clasp andfabric at the right --.hand end'is no, greater than the total thickness of the clasp and fabric'at the left hand rendi '1 I Referring now toiFi-g. 5, the waistband is shown inserted in position in the casing 17 'formed by means of "a hem or otherwise at "the :upperedgeof a, pair of bloomers or pants '18. 7 It is customary to make the casing 17 either closed throughout its entire length or provided with a'sing'le 'slit'or aperture 19. Aceordinglygthewaistband is :located in a position where it, is comparatively inaccessivll le. The end 20 of the portion of the strip .10 which formsthe loop :12 is provided with an adj usting device consisting of a slide 2] provided with suitablelarms or bars through which the portion ofstrip 10 which forms the waistband proper passes in slidable frictional engagement. It will be understood that by grasping the slide 21 with the fingers it can be slid either tothe Elight or left in Fig. 1 so as to eithershorten or lengthen the girth of he waistband hyincreasin'g -or diminishing the length of the loop 12.

The distance which it is necessary to move the slide :21 onthe strip 10 is always twice as great as the'change in girth of the waistband may be made ofmetal,celluloid, or 1 effected thereby. Accordin ly by placing marks such as the figures 2 and 29 on the outside of the strip 10 as shown in Fig. 1, the girth of the waistband is indicated in inches or other desired units, and the girth of the band can be accurately pre-set by adjusting the slide 21 with respect to these indicating numbers. V 1

I The method of using my improved waistband is as follows:

When-a new garment is furnished with my improved waistband, if the size of the waistband is not correct, it is only necessary to ,pull out of the casin that part of the waistband carrying'the slide 21 and lengthen the band the desired amount. The facility with which the loop 12 may beremoved from engagement with the clasp 11' permits this operation tobedone very easily. .In pulling the waistband part way out to-shitt the slide,-

the clasp end of the i-bandmay tend to slip ,back into the casing. With the ordinary band this would be quite a great inconvenience as it would necessitate the use of a shirring needleor other'bodkin device in order. to

runthe entire band throughout the whole length of the casing. With my improved this-claspshou-ld happento slip back into the casing-for afew inches, it may be run back againvery-qu-ickly, thus (loin-g away-with the pulling of the entire band from the casing hnd placin-g 1a bodk-ili 'uponit, andthen' runill:

ning it again through the entire-casing.

This procedure does away with the necessity of fumbling with the slide 21 while in the casing in an attempt to adjust the girth of the hand without removing it from the cas ing. This is always diflicult to accomplish because it'isinot easy to separate the two strips forming the loop when they are concealed and confined within the casing, and

pull on the right one. Also the slide can onily be moved a minute distance at a time because the' casing will 'notstretch to any ,great extent. Y

When the elastic has shrunk to the point where it is uncomfortably tight, asit is apt to 'doafzter "the first or second washing, it can be quickly and easily-readjusted in length in the manner just described.

When a waistband isworn out, whether of the ordinary type or of my improved type the old waistband is first removed from the first, the clasp being used to serve the purpose .of a bodkinor runner. Then the clasp is opened as Ipreviously explained and as illus- -t-ratedlinr ig. 4 and the loop 121m the other end of the waistband is quickly attached to the clasp. I I

It will be understood that my improved belt or band may be used not only as a waist- V band but also as knee bands for bloomers,

and in fact the above is merely an exemplifying disclosure of one form of my improved waistband and clasp, and the invention extends to those constructions which come 10 within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: I 1. A waistband comprising a thin flat strip of elastic material, an adjusting-device permanently attached to one end of the strip and slidably mounted on the strip near one end, I the material of thestrip between the adjusting device and the end of the band being bent upon itself to form a flat loop, and an elongated clasp of thin stifl? resilient material permanently attached to the opposite end of the band and having flattened ends turned crosswise to form a pair of thin flat overlapping fingers normally lying in contact with one another and separable to receive and hold said loop, said clasp being 'sufiiciently elongated to serve as a bodkin for inserting the belt in the casing of a garment.

2. A waistband comprising a thinflat strip o of elastic material, one end of said strip being bent upon itself to form a flat loop,an elongated clasp of thin stiff resilient material attached to the opposite end of said waistband and having flattened ends turned crosswise to form a pair of thin flat overlapping fingers normally lying in contact with one another and separable to receive and hold said loop, said clasp being sufliciently elongated to serve as a bodkin for inserting the waistband in the casing of a garment, and means for adjusting the length of said waistband.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

OLIVE BROOKS. 

